Vestiges - Interview

If you remember we promised an interview with Vestiges on our facebook-page some time ago. Due to touring, taking care of pre-orders and writing new music this interview is a bit delayed but I think it was worth all the waiting, good things come to those who waits right? Anyhow, here it is and I hope you'll find the answers as interesting as I do and that you check out this great band.

1. You're a fairly new band so why don't you start with introducing the band?

We are Vestiges, a band influenced by post-hardcore, black metal, crust, screamo, and post-rock.

2. How did the idea for Vestiges take form? Did you all share the same vision before you sat down to write music?

We had no real vision of the music before sitting down to write the album, we just wanted to jam and let the music come naturally without catering to a specific genre or a specific listener. We wrote the music for ourselves as a form of expression and it is what it is. We each have our own influences, all very different from one another, and we feel that you can definitely hear this in The Descent Of Man. As far as the theme of the album is concerned, we all share a similar view of the world, but again, we each came in with our own perspective of exactly what we wanted to say and how we wanted to say it. I would like to think that the album means something a little different to each of us.

3. Your lyrics take up some pretty big issues such as environmentalism and religion. What can you tell us about that?

The bottom line is that we are not living the way our creator intended. While the term “creator” is up for debate, the unspeakable horrors that humanity has carried out and continues to carry out are not. What happened to The Golden Rule? We have slaughtered everything and everyone in our path and have poisoned the earth in the process. We have destroyed our home and the homes of every other living creature simply because it yields some bastardized sense of benefit for us today. There is no care in the world for the world. There has been no regard for nature or how we as humans fit into the bigger picture. We act as if this bigger picture is solely a portrait of man and all of his self-proclaimed “advancements,” but in reality, we are merely a fraction of a dot in a Georges Seurat landscape. It’s about time we realize this and start living our lives accordingly.

The issues we chose to address through our lyrics are based on the idea of naturalizing our world view. It is crucial that we take a step back and really assess our role in nature on a larger scale, rather than simply the here and now. Our existence is not promised, we are not here to stay, and that is certainly the case if we remain on our current path of disregard. We must ensure that the motives behind what we decide to do today and what we will do tomorrow are pure, free of ego, and consistent with what our creator, mother nature, intended.

4. Do you feel that bands should be about more than music? Is it important to have a message?

We are not here to tell bands what they should and should not do, but we definitely feel that it is important to have a message. In our opinion, music without a message is essentially a piece of art that does nothing but look good. Vestiges is merely a catharsis for those of us in the band. We aren’t the type to carry around soapboxes wherever we go to preach at a moment’s notice about the sky falling down, it’s just not who we are, but this band allows us to express ourselves in a way that feels natural and comfortable. It allows us to really connect with people through aggression and emotion in a way that wouldn’t be as effective through normal, everyday conversation. This is what we feel most driven about and what we feel is the most important to address at this point in time. If you have something to say, say it, or better yet scream it, and beat the hell out of your instruments while you do it. We just don’t understand how to approach music any other way.

5. You have recently come out with a debut LP, "The Descent Of Man." How did the recording go? Did it turn out the way you intended?

The recording process lasted about four months, a bit longer than what we had originally anticipated, but definitely something we do not regret. We learned a lot about ourselves as musicians during this process and it gave us all a new perspective on the entire project, especially as we fine-tuned the dynamics and the mood of the entire album. It really just showed us that hard work and dedication can go a long way, and we couldn’t be happier with how the album came out, both in terms of the music and the production.

6. Was it hard to start off with recording an entire LP?

We wrote The Descent Of Man as one song, so it wasn’t difficult in that sense, especially since we knew exactly what we wanted before heading into the studio. It wasn’t an album with twelve completely different songs, ideas, structures, etc like most traditional albums, so it was a lot easier to approach day in and day out with our studio technician. The only headache came when we decided to use one studio for drums, one studio for guitars, and another studio for mastering. It was a logistical nightmare, but it was worth it in the end.

7. Unlike many bands you have decided to make your music available for download at your website. Was that for commercial purpose only or do you feel that music is something to be shared by everyone?

We have been asked this question before and our answer is usually followed with a furrowed brow and even more questions. We don’t feel that you should have to pay for music, especially not our music. We are not in this for the money. There is no “being in it for the money” with this type of music. We were completely aware of this and the fact that we would be sinking a lot of our personal funds into this band in order to accomplish what we had set out to accomplish. This was our goal, not yours. Why should you have to pay for it? Furthermore, why should you have to pay for it before hearing it in its entirety? That never made much sense to us. Music is a conversation, and you should be able to walk out of that conversation if you don’t want to listen to what we or what anyone else has to say without feeling obligated to pay. We just hope that our music creates a dialogue that people would want to share with one another. That is all we could ever hope for in return.

8. The LP will soon be available for pre-order. Are you releasing it by yourself or will there be a label involved?

The album is now available to order on double vinyl, CD, and cassette, which can be ordered directly from us through our website. We independently released this album, but we have been fortunate enough to work with DIY labels and distros all over the world to help distribute The Descent Of Man. Everything is extremely limited because we wanted to give those people, who actually care to be a part of our “conversation,” something that they can hold on to and experience. This is something that we wanted to do for ourselves and we didn’t feel that a label was necessary to accomplish what we set out to do. Honestly, it never crossed our minds. There’s just a certain sense of pride that comes with doing things yourself that is worth more than what a label could ever offer.

9. How has "The Descent Of Man" been received by the listeners?

We couldn't be more grateful for the overwhelmingly positive reception this album has had thus far. We had absolutely no idea how it would be received since we kept the band and the album a secret, even from our friends, during the entire writing and recording process. I remember texting a friend of mine with the website link right after we released the album and his response was “You’re in a band?” Vestiges was started merely as a creative outlet for the drummer and guitarist, so watching it grow from a jam band to releasing a full-length album, touring, and planning the next few releases within a matter of months has been rather bizarre, but we are extremely grateful. Again, this is something that we wanted to do for ourselves, so the fact that there is any reception at all has exceeded our wildest expectations for this album, let alone the band as a whole.

We have been sent emails regarding debates online about what our music may or may not be, which should be flattering I guess, but it’s unfortunate that there has to be a debate. This is why I answered the second question rather hastily; our music is what it is. We chose not to label ourselves with a specific genre, but rather list genres that have influenced us and let the music speak for itself. Hindsight is saying that we shouldn’t have listed anything. We each listen to different music and we rarely agree on artists or bands that we collectively enjoy, which is more than acceptable. We set out writing our music embracing these differences and understanding that each of us had something entirely different to bring to the table. We can respect one another’s opinions and influences without compromising our own and come together to write music that we all agree on. It’s amazing really, given the spectrum of musical tastes within the band. It would just be nice to see a similar respect exhibited amongst those who wish to debate what we may or may not be.

10. You can hear a lot of influences in your songs. What bands inspire you to write music?

We would be here for days if we listed all of the bands that inspire us to write. There’s not much out there that at least one of us hasn't drawn some sort of influence from; probably more bands and artists than we would care to admit publically. We all grew up listening to music at a young age, all during different periods of time since our ages range by almost a decade, so our backgrounds are a bit different, but we can all agree that what we are playing is what we want to play and what feels right for us to play together.

11. Other than music is there something else that influences you as a band? Art, literature etc.

It should be no secret that we draw a lot of influence from nature and the current state of the world. There’s just something about being in an area untouched by human civilization that is nothing short of inspirational, and I guess you could say that there’s something about the endless amount of concrete and shopping malls that is nothing short of inspirational as well. That inspiration, however, is much different and conjures rage rather than peace. The rage is definitely what pushes us to say something, but the peace is why we have something to say in the first place. That peace is worth fighting for and certainly worth talking about.

12. What can we expect from you in the future? Perhaps a Euro-tour?

Right now we are focused on writing new material for a few different splits that we have in the works. We are heading back into the studio in March and we couldn’t be more excited to record the material that we have written thus far. We are aiming to release the splits before our tour of the United States and Canada this summer, which we are currently routing with several amazing bands. We are trying to take it all as it comes, so most of our focus is on the splits and the tour right now, though we do have long-term goals that we have every intention of seeing through.

As far as a Euro tour is concerned, we have actually had a few different people and bands contact us, and we will definitely be taking them up on their offers in the near future. If all goes according to plan, we should be overseas during the summer of 2012. We have had a tremendous amount of support in Europe, as well as Asia and South America, so it is our goal to play for as many of these people as humanly possible. Until then, we will be keeping our fingers crossed that we will have the support in the future when we are ready to tour internationally.

13. Thanks you so much for taking your time with this interview. Do you have any closing words?

No, thank you Hampus! Thank you for your time and your extreme patience. In closing, we would just like to take the time to thank everyone for the kind words that we have received about the album and for the continued support from people all over the globe. It is really amazing to see what can be accomplished within our community these days. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it weren’t for music blogs, message boards, and those of you who simply take the time to listen to an album and share your thoughts with anyone willing to listen.